Leave A Comment

Not everybody is sad to see Paul Levitz go

If you were under the impression virtually everyoneissorry to see Paul Levitz step down as president and publisher of DC Comics, that’s only because Dirk Deppey was busy sharpening his stake.

“It should have happened long ago, of course, but better late than never,” Deppey writes this morning on Journalista! “While he’s managed to rack up a few genuine and admirable accomplishments during his time with DC Comics (not least being his early support for Phil Seuling and the Direct Market), one has to ask: How many initiatives has Levitz botched over the years? From the serial alienation of the company’s most profitable writer, Alan Moore, to the unholy debacle that was Minx — one of the many, many publishing lines created under his oversight that were badly conceived, badly executed, badly managed and badly promoted from start to finish — Levitz has in recent years presided over what can only be described as one of the most embarrassing periods in DC Comics’ corporate history.”

And Deppey’s only getting started. From there he spends another half-dozen paragraphs pointing out several decisions by, or under, Levitz that he believes damaged DC and the comics industry (including the publisher’s exclusive deal with Diamond Comic Distributors).

Even if you don’t share Deppey’s views, his post is still worth reading as an alternate perspective on Levitz’s tenure.